A desert mystery Insurgents were reported to have burned tens of thousands of ancient manuscripts in Timbuktu as French troops surrounded the city. Timbuktu has long been a byword for a distant and unreachable place. But how did it come to be so? — No European is known to have visited Timbuktu until Robert Adams,
Home Britain decided to send 40 ‘military advisers’ to Mali, 70 more with an RAF Sentinel surveillance aircraft and 20 with a C17 transport plane, and 200 to neighbouring states in a training role; Britain was ‘keen’, according to Downing Street, to aid France there. David Cameron, the Prime Minister, visited Algeria. The British economy
When the letters ‘NHS’ appeared to the world above the dancing nurses at the Olympic opening ceremony, many in Britain will have imagined two darker words hovering alongside: ‘Mid Staffs’. Few of those affected will have been able to forget what now seems to be one of the greatest scandals in the history of British
Is the RSPCA morphing from animal welfare charity into an animal rights group? In this week’s Spectator, Melissa Kite writes that following the charity’s successful prosecution of the Heythrop hunt, its chief executive Gavin Grant now has his sights set on the racing industry: Buoyed by the success of his prosecution of the Heythrop hunt,
‘Do you think that we’ll eventually leave the UK?’
‘I imagine you are going on the run - can I interest you in our travel insurance?’
‘Hang on - just going into a tunnel...’
‘My boyfriend paid for them.’
‘The gas is off tonight, so it’s gazpacho.’
‘You know it’s been a dream of mine to go fox-hunting, but it’s too expensive so I’m improvising.’
‘I’ve upgraded my phone.’
‘You idiot - you set it for 35 seconds instead of the recommended 30. It’s ruined.’
‘What’s this about, then?’
‘Military marchpasts aren’t the same in the era of drone warfare.’
‘We’ll have everlasting peace in Jerusalem once we’ve got rid of this lot.’
‘It’s a British Army knife. Cuts all around.’
‘Well I’ll be burgered.’
‘I recommend becoming corrupt.’